Samsung is closer to selling its new Galaxy tablet computer in Australia after a court on Wednesday overturned a ruling that favoured Apple's allegations that Samsung had copied its iPad and iPhone.

But Samsung will have to wait a few more days before it can begin selling the Galaxy, after Apple indicated it would appeal to the nation's high court. The federal court agreed to keep the injunction in place until Friday while that issue is pending. Samsung might still be able to capitalise on the Christmas shopping season in Australia if it can ultimately win the patent war.

The ruling said evidence failed to show the Galaxy tablet infringed Apple's touchscreen patent. Justices said Apple would be unlikely to win if the case went to a trial. It criticised the earlier decision in Apple's favour as "clearly wrong".

In October a federal court justice, Annabelle Bennett, granted Apple's request for a temporary injunction against sale of Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia, preventing the device going on shelves in its current form.

Samsung appealed and on Wednesday the court agreed to lift the injunction and allow Galaxy sales to go ahead.

Apple in April sued Samsung in the US, alleging the Galaxy's product design, user interface and packaging "slavishly copy" the iPhone and iPad. Samsung responded by filing its own lawsuits that accused Apple of infringing patents of its wireless telecommunications technology.

The fight spread to 10 countries – courts in Germany and the Netherlands ruled in favour of Apple, and in her October ruling Justice Bennett of the Australian federal court said she was siding with Apple in part because she felt the company had a sufficient likelihood of winning at trial against Samsung.

But a full bench of the federal court ruled that Bennett did not include in her written decision any assessment of the strengths of Apple's case, as she was required to do before granting the injunction. "In our view her decision was clearly wrong and should be set aside," the panel wrote.

The justices said they believed Apple was unlikely to succeed at trial because current evidence failed to show that selling the Galaxy in Australia infringed Apple's touchscreen patent.

In a statement Samsung said it was pleased with the court's decision and it would soon announce when the Galaxy would be available in Australia."We believe the ruling clearly affirms that Apple's legal claims lack merit," the company said.

Apple representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.